Equal Pay Day 2016

I recently found out that in the UK on 10th November 2016 is Equal Pay Day. Does this mean that for one day men and women will receive equal pay? Like baby steps, start slowly but surely, one step at a time in the right direction?

Nope, afraid not. However, from what I can tell this is a campaign started by The Fawcett Society. According to their ‘About Us’ page:

“Fawcett is the UK’s leading charity campaigning for gender equality and women’s rights. We want to see a society in which individuals can fulfil their potential regardless of their sex”

They of course have a lot more on their page including: What they do; their beliefs; their vision; the need for Fawcett today & their achievements.

I’ll admit I hadn’t heard of The Fawcett Society until recently, nor the Equal Pay Day Campaign. This was introduced via a newsletter sent through my workplace. According to this, in the UK: On 10th November 2016 women effectively stop earning relative to men and work the rest of the year for free. The campaign was created to raise awareness of this issue.

I hear a lot from men and women (mainly on the internet) about how women ‘have got what they wanted’. They feel that everything is going well and that we’ll be equal across the board eventually. The problem is, I recently read somewhere that at the rate the gap is closing it’ll be 136 years before there is equality between men and women pay. How can we as a society say that everything is fine when we still face these types of issues?

How can we be content with the views on women when there is someone running for president who has sexually assaulted women and has openly bragged about it. From comments he has made over the years it is clear he views women as objects and he thinks he can do and say what he likes, then insults and degrades them when rejected. Like the human version of Tinder only without the ability to delete.

On a side note: Isn’t it scary that this the kind of person we would never allow into our own lives, and yet he’s a candidate in the running to lead the United States of America?

I don’t want to get too much into the politics surrounding the election in the US, I’m using this as an example because I wonder what this says about our progress? Where a man is allowed to commit these crimes, make these allegations and treat women in the way that he has, yet is ultimately rewarded by allowing him to even be considered for such a position. Do you want your children to grow up and be exactly like that man they see on the television? Would you approve of this behaviour if it was your own child?

Getting back to the matter at hand, the Fawcett society website has provided some ideas if you want to get involved in the campaign. One example being “If you think women have #EqualValue to men, then shout about it on social media this #EqualPayDay!” They have a lot more suggestions, some involving social media, the workplace, contacting your local MP etc.

I’ve said this before but if men and women could stop fighting each other (whether that be men and women, or women fighting women, or men fighting men) about these issues, if we could work together for equality, then we could actually make a real difference. As long as we’re attacking each other progress will continue to slow in many areas.

Charity’s such as The Fawcett Society or campaigns such as HeForShe are so important to us and shouldn’t be disregarded or dismissed, as they often are by people who don’t want to listen or feel it isn’t important to them.

Anyway, when I first heard about the campaign it really interested and intrigued me, I hope that anyone reading this has felt something similar – or perhaps you have different views?

In any case, I hope you found this somewhat interesting and I hope you have a great day!